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Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University
Elliott O'Brien '10
Shepherd Poverty Alumnus
I think the Shepherd Program helps to encourage students to broaden and deepen the ways that they engage with the local community during their time at Washington and Lee and keep poverty issues in mind in their future careers.

Support the Shepherd Program

Friends of Rockbridge

Shepherd E-Store Purchases Benefit FOR

Barrington Gifts has collaborated with the Shepherd Program to open an E-store, where alumni and friends of the program, their employers and associates can purchase upscale, corporate and executive gifts and simultaneously support the Friends of Rockbridge (FOR) endowment. When fully funded, the endowment will enable Shepherd Program undergraduate and law students to participate in service and applied research in the Rockbridge area in perpetuity. Visitors to the Shepherd Program E-store will receive 40 percent off retail pricing, and the Friends of Rockbridge will receive a 20 percent donation from the sale price on every purchase.

Shop the Shepherd Program E-store now.

Promoting student engagement in the Rockbridge area community and beyond

The Friends of Rockbridge (FOR) designates a group of Washington and Lee alumni and friends who wish to support undergraduate and law students in service and learning through service, primarily in the local and regional community. Washington and Lee's Shepherd Program for Poverty and Human Capability has initiated multiple activities that promote student involvement in Rockbridge County and the region. The Friends of Rockbridge will endow support for these activities so that they can continue in perpetuity. Foundational members of FOR will give between $10,000 and $150,000 in a three- to five-year pledge to reach at least a $1 million endowment. When we attain our goal, we will gather to dedicate a plaque that commemorates this collective gift and reminds others that those associated with W&L care about the communities in which they live. Programs supported by the FOR endowment include:

  • A pre-orientation week for entering first-year students (Volunteer Venture)
  • Student research and consulting for agencies in the local community (CBR)
  • Service leaders who pledge 900 hours of service over two years (Bonner Leaders)
  • The Nabors Service League, which promotes volunteering during the academic year and Alternative Break trips to volunteer with W&L alumni in their communities
  • Service as part of education in several academic courses (Service Learning)
  • The Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee, through which students deliver more than 25,000 nutritious meals annually to residents of Rockbridge County and dine with the recipients

Two of these activities, the Campus Kitchens Project and the Bonner Leader program, also are supported by national organizations, the Campus Kitchen Project in Washington, D.C., and the Bonner Foundation in Princeton, N.J.

These activities are associated with academic courses and national and international internships sponsored by the Shepherd Program. This integration of academic study and hands-on service in a Washington and Lee education cultivates compassion and intellectual rigor as preparation for civic and professional engagement to diminish poverty. The Shepherd Program draws inspiration from the honor system and W&L's mission to foster "the responsibility to serve society through the productive use of talent and training" and a "capacity for self-sacrifice in behalf of [our] fellow citizens."